Sakura didn't know how to react to such abrupt news, she even vaguely wondered if it would be considered uncanny if she did not react. She herself thought it weird that she didn't, considering her strong feelings for him so long ago, she couldn't get over the fact that she felt nothing when the words exited out of the Hokage's mouth. She considered it best not saying anything in response to it.

Her jade eyes flickered to a spot in the Hokage's office where chakra was being focused. Recognizing the familiar chakra, she relaxed a bit more and her skin warmed knowing just who was about to make their appearance. The Hokage noticed the same chakra flow and smiled fondly, backing away from Sakura, and standing more in the middle of the room. The other ANBU member that popped up was tall, around six foot, and clad in the normal dim gray and black attire all ANBU wear. The only thing that set this particular ANBU apart was the elite tattoo etched onto his biceps, the same marking on the back of Sakura's neck right underneath her hair.

"You called?" the masked ANBU asked.

Sakura observed the other ANBU's mask and silently chuckled at the irony to it. It had red markings that looked similar to whiskers on its cheeks, and ears that sat on the top. Many mistake his mask of being a cat, but she knew better than anyone else it was a fox. Her's represented an old fashion version of what many villagers thought a demon would look like, an ugly face with a horrible expression and the infamous horns sitting at either side of the head. She chuckled silently again, thinking her mask might even be more ironic than the other ANBU's.

The Hokage stared at the elite fighter and rose his eyebrow at him. "How many times do I have to remind you?" he narrowed his eyes slightly. "No masks in my office. You should know better than anyone else how important it is to look someone in the eye when your talking to them"

Sakura had the vague thought that somehow Itachi was directing his comment at her whether than the other person standing in the room. Nonetheless, she made a tsking noise with her tongue to voice her agreeing disappointment in the other ANBU's decorum. He was the only one that did such a thing over and over again.

The ANBU male scratched the back of his unruly blonde head awkwardly and shuffled one of his feet. "Ahh, sorry. I forget the simplest things sometimes" he muttered.

He removed his mask gently and bright blue eyes stared back at the two of them and his hair settling at the nape of his neck. "Anyway" the blonde continued, "You called right?"

The Hokage (Itachi) nodded and then approached Naruto, taking in his state of appearance after his two month long mission. As usual, there wasn't a speck of blood to be seen on him. He nodded approvingly. "Yes, I did. I need you to step in and take my place when Sasuke gets here" he instructed.

Naruto didn't say anything for awhile, a small flicker of emotion flashing in his eyes before disappearing altogether. This is the only time Sakura saw actual emotion in the blonde's face, no one else did though, and they both were known highly because of that. They were like robots in a feeling world. Besides that, Sakura couldn't agree with the thought of Naruto filling Itachi's seat as Hokage. That could go wrong in many more ways than one.

"Anyone else of importance could've taken your place as Hokage, but Naruto could very likely take the bullet for you Itachi...I don't want to risk him" she stated unabashedly.

It was rare to hear Sakura speak with emotion, but when she did it was for Naruto. Unlike most, Sakura cherished Naruto on much more deeper level. After Sasuke left and attempted to destroy the home they all grew up in, he was there for her that whole time. Consoling her, and encouraging her to do better and succeed. For that, Sakura couldn't help but instinctively cling to the thought of Naruto being her pillar of strength and clarity. If he crumbled so would she.

"If he did, it would be for the good of this village and I'm sure he would gladly take a bullet and a couple more just for the sake of this place. I understand your emotions for him, but I need him to do this for me" Itachi looked encouragingly at Naruto. "He's the only capable candidate for this job and I'm positive that if I didn't have this seat he surely would"

Naruto nodded his head at the Hokage in thanks ,but kept his words to himself. He was still thinking about Sasuke. Sakura relented through carefully hidden clenched teeth and said no more, she wouldn't disrespect her leader by going back and forth with him.

"If I'm to act as Hokage..." Naruto pondered aloud. "Where are you stationing yourself, and how will we receive orders from your location?"

Itachi smiled inwardly. He couldn't help but reminisce when he thought Naruto was just a kid ahead of his time and rushing towards a future full of regrets, but as he watched him grow up... he could clearly see he was wrong in his assumption. "Just along the outskirts of Konoha. He won't find me there, and I don't want to stick around for when he does. I don't want him to know I'm still alive"

Naruto and Sakura didn't say anything in response to that and continued to wait on their next orders.

"You'll come to me directly since I'm not far from the village itself but not near either. I'll only trust the two of you to relay my orders to any other subordiantes I may want to command at the time. Until then, both of you are the only ones that will be able to see me" he told the both of them.

Naruto frowned in thought while Sakura actually decided to say something. "The villagers aren't stupid. They'll know that its not you sitting at the top of the tower, but Naruto who's quite popular as an ANBU. What are you planning to tell them?" she asked.

Itachi nodded at her, already thinking into a solution for that. "I don't want the villagers to panic and wonder why I'm not here, but I've already prepared for that" he looked back and forth between them. "Your clones are exceptional Naruto, you should be able to make an exact replica of me. It didn't take a genius to notice you were studying my mannerisms and behavior"

Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked at Naruto. "What?" she asked.

"You never know when and where you'll have to impersonate someone Sakura, it was a precaution not an act of disrespect" Naruto said calmly.

Itachi nodded. "And very smart indeed. I know you'll have the village's best interest in mind if you can't even trust your own Hokage"

Sakura noted the slight hint of snide in Itachi's voice but had no other thought of it. She broached another subject instead, a subject that's been on her mind ever since the Hokage told her an old friend decided to show his face again. "Does he plan on trying to destroy us again? Or perhaps trying to kill Naruto? He can't be here on peaceful terms"

Naruto looked over at his long term friend and saw in her eyes that she wouldn't hesitate to kill Sasuke if she had to, the Hokage probably could see it too. Morever, he could see that she was bothered by the fact that Sasuke even wanted to be back there on bad terms or not, she no longer like him as a person.

"I would ensure that he didn't set a foot inside this place if I thought he would" Itachi said sitting back down at his desk. "Besides, he's already here and living near where you stay Naruto. I trust you to keep an eye on him for tonight, and you too Sakura. His timing for showing up here is, I admit, questioning"

Sakura concealed the groan she desperately wanted to let out and peeked over at Naruto to see if maybe he felt the same way. When she looked, the emotion that reached her from his eyes was conflicted and confused. She figured he didn't know what to feel as of now.

"You two are dismissed, I don't want any trouble from him while he's staying here" Itachi added.

The two ANBU nodded and reached for their masks, adorning them on their faces and promptly disappearing from the Hokage's office.

~Naruto and Sakura converse amongst the treetops~

"Your thoughts?" Naruto asked his pink haired companion.

Sakura said nothing at first and then sighed, muttering something incomprehensible behind her ANBU mask. "I don't think anything about it. I only feel irritated that we have to do this, I should be on a mission right now"

Naruto looked at her sternly. "You just got off a four month long mission in the Sound village and I, a two month mission in the Grass, I could say we both need a break"

Sakura quieted again in disagreement. She liked missions much more than being stuck in the village on standby, the battlefield is where she felt the most alive. "It doesn't matter. I just wanna get this over with and go home" she said uttering to herself.

The blonde could see in her eyes that she didn't want to go home, that was the last place she wanted to be and he could see it written all over her face no matter how blank and passive she made it seem.

The two arrived in front of the door that held the Uchiha symbol and Sakura nodded at Naruto who disappeared, his role was over. Sasuke couldn't see that Naruto was ANBU or that would raise his suspicion and also ruin the plan with Naruto acting as Hokage, Sasuke was too smart for his own good.

Sakura stared at the door and pondered on how she should act around him. She felt lost and shuffled her feet absent minded, would he consider it suspicious that she wasn't the way he'd left her? Or would he be expecting it? Or just maybe he would act hostile toward her and tell her to get out. That last part would make her job a lot easier and would make her feel a lot better about being around him. She wouldn't have to weaken her state of mind trying to fit the image he made her out to be, nor would she have to try to salvage something that was never there to begin with.

The door opened before she was prepared and there she stood face to face with the said Uchiha.

"Sakura.." he muttered before she said anything.

It took her awhile to say anything to him. Mainly because of the fact that he looked noticeably older, and his hair was edging down to the middle of his back and the bangs framing his face rested on his chest. The only thing that remained the same about him was his onyx eyes.

She could feel herself glaring horribly into them and she had to hurry and catch a hold of her emotions, remember her training and letting her emotions drain away. He noticed this with a frown. That was very unlike her. He knew at some point in his life that she would end up being at least a Jounin, but ANBU? The last he checked, ANBU of any kind did the more dirtier jobs for Konoha. It took much more of a toll on the mind than any other Shinobi's job did, no, if he knew her like he thought he did she wouldn't be an ANBU in the first place.

He then began to question if this was Sakura at all. No one else had pink hair like her, but that could easily be imitated. Her chakra felt the same, and the height and weight on her after all these years was about right too. Yet, her emotions and reactions to the sight of him was very unlike her. Sasuke was at least expecting her to be teary eyed and all over him ,but she wasn't...

She seemed to notice his wariness of her and sighed knowing that the only thing left to do to put him at ease...was to take off the mask. Her petite hand, that was shielded from his sight by clawed gloves, removed the white and red adorned mask and she placed it gently on her hip. Sakura heard his small intake of breath as his eyes searched her face for something that wouldn't appear. He swallowed lightly and stepped away from the door frame, letting the door swing open wider for her to enter.

She returned his wary gaze for a second before letting herself step inside his home.

~Sakura and Sasuke talk on his couch by a window~

The conversation didn't start for awhile between the two twenty year old something's. Sasuke was still trying to register Sakura's appearance in front of him, while Sakura was trying to keep a tight rein on her emotions. She never thought this many years later that she would hate the man sitting in front of her, looking so dumb and shocked as if he would've never thought she would get too far in her life without him in it. There was a short katana on her hip too, her fingers were really itching for it.

"Your..an ANBU now" he said slowly, more shocked that he was able to say that out loud.

She nodded numbly. "I'm in the elite ranks and currently a captain to a squad of junior ANBU" she told him.

Sasuke let her words sink in. He knew for sure that the last thing she was trying to do was impress him, not after the look he saw flash across her eyes in that brief moment. It was even more nerve racking when he realized she no longer wore her emotions on her sleeve, he couldn't tell what she was thinking at all even without the mask.

"So, are you going to explain to me why your here?" she seemed to demand.

Sasuke was a little put off by her tone but he really didn't mind, it was just surprising that she used the same tone with him that he would often use on her. He'd just never heard before from a female no less. "A new start. It's all over and I wanted to start something new and finally...just...settle"

She stayed silent and continued to stare at him; wondering if what he was saying was true. This could all be some marvelous trick to destroy the village yet again, she could never trust him again.

"And I'm suppose to believe that?"

He shook his head. "You don't have to"

"And if you prove me right?"

He paused. "You'll have every right to kill me"

He watched the hurried calculation in her green eyes, they pierced into him with intense concentration. "Good enough"

She stood up and replaced her ANBU mask back at its rightful place, only looking around for a split moment to make sure she didn't leave anything. Satisfied, she headed towards the door and didn't plan to say goodbye or anything. She'd gotten what she wanted and decided to leave, she wouldn't stay another minute.

"What about Naruto?" He asked aloud.

He noticed she was leaving and didn't want or felt the need to stop her ,but he did have that one last thought on his mind.

She stood still in front of his door. "Naruto is Hokage now, I'm sure you didn't have a doubt in your mind that he would get there. He's kept this place safe for years after the war, the villagers are very grateful to him" she said plainly.

He could feel the fondness for Naruto leak out of her voice. The way her body visibly relaxed and her skin seemed to brighten just at the sound of Naruto's name. He wondered vaguely if they were together. "I want to see him" he found himself saying.

She turned towards the door again, and waved her hand back at Sasuke without missing a beat. "That won't be possible"

His face scrunched up in confusion. "And why is that?"

"Maybe you haven't noticed what time it is" she said gesturing to the dark world outside the nearby window. "He needs as much rest as possible"

Sasuke stared back at her until she said something.

"You'll see him soon enough" she said flatly.

He seemed satisfied with her answer and left the subject alone. She needed to get away from him, he could see it was causing her harm being near him and he wouldn't keep her there any longer than she had to. Sasuke stood with her and opened the door for her to leave before his mouth decided to let any unnecessary words flutter out.

"Who are you going back home to?" he found himself asking her. Damn, too late.

She paused again and sighed, the pink strands of her hair falling from their place in stress. "The same person your going back to" she told him.

His eyes avoided her person for a moment and remained so until she was fully out of his home and walking outside. He knew exactly what she meant by what she'd said. Sasuke wasn't going back to anyone, it was the same for Sakura except she had no intention of changing that fact, at least not with him.

~Sakura returns home~

Her dark black knee-high boots were the first thing to come off of Sakura's body. The rest of her uniform followed suit until it made a trail all the way to her bedroom which wasn't too far away from the front door. She noticed her feet making footprints in the dust all over the floor and cursed out loud, it had been so long since she'd been home. Even the air inside the place was stuffy and Sakura struggled to breathe normally without feeling like her throat was closing up on her. Her first action was to open all the windows in the house. She had no care for the common burglar what so ever, he/she would get cut up into bits before making it anywhere inside her home.

After fresh, cool air ventilated her small one bedroom home, she changed into compressed black shorts and a light white and ruffled cami. She laid her ANBU mask on top of her dresser next to various swords and daggers she treasured in one place. Then she made her way over to her mirror and gazed at herself, seeing the obvious signs of exhaustion and tiredness in her green eyes that no longer cast any light nor mirth. She could honestly say she looked miserable.

Sighing, she carefully took the beaded pins out of her intricate bun and laid them near the others on her make up dresser. She could smell the potent poison in them as she put them away and was glad she didn't accidentally prick herself with one like last time. Her hair fell in portions and then finally all at once when she took out the last pin and set it down with the others. Her bangs sprang to frame her face gently and in slight waves, while the rest of her hair flowed down her back in a straight waterfall.

A yawn made its way up her throat and she happily released it. Maybe she could get use to being in Konoha for a little while. The night was beautiful and the weather was good. She would also be able to experience the luxury of having a bed to sleep upon for the night and knew she would sleep better than well. Another sweet breeze went through her house and she sighed in content, making her way towards her bed sleepily and climbing into it. As soon as her eyes started to close shut, a scent caught her attention and prompted her to sit up in her sheets and her hair pool around her body. She looked around her room for the source of the smell and found nothing, just the sound of her calm breathing and the trees rustling outside from the wind.

Her chakra began to pulse at her senses as she broaden them and soon she began to see, hear, and smell everything within a fifty mile radius of her house. She could even feel every individual thread of the sheets she was laying in, but nothing really stuck out at her as odd. Just the village sleeping peacefully. The scent itself brought a chill upon her whole body, she couldn't have possibly imagined it since it was so clear and now just like the wind it was gone. It took a lot to scare Sakura, but when she was...it had to be something deep enough to chill her to the bone.

One of the little Sound children, she remembered they were brother and sister, smelled just like the scent she smelled a while ago. The last time she checked, they were both dead because of her.


A/N: O.o Oh snap! Comment your thoughts on the following scenarios!

1) Naruto and Sakura's relationship from Sasuke's point of view

2) Naruto and Sakura's relationship from Sakura's point of view

3) Itachi and Sakura's interaction

4) Itachi being Hokage

5) Itachi not wanting Sasuke to know he's alive

6) Naruto and Sakura being elite ANBU

7) and LASTLY, Sakura's little problem if you can guess what it is :3